Eric Holder Quotes

Powerful Eric Holder for Daily Growth

About Eric Holder

Eric Holder Jr., born on January 21, 1951, in the Bronx, New York, is a renowned American attorney, politician, and public servant who served as the 82nd Attorney General of the United States from 2009 to 2015 under President Barack Obama. Holder's interest in law was sparked during his college years at Columbia University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1973. He continued his legal education at Columbia Law School, earning his Juris Doctor in 1976. His legal career began as a law clerk for Judge Wilfred Feinberg and Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. In 1978, Holder joined the Department of Justice (DOJ) as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Columbia. He rose through the ranks, becoming the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia in 1993, and later the Deputy Attorney General under President Bill Clinton from 1997 to 2001. Holder's tenure as Attorney General was marked by several significant achievements. He played a key role in the successful prosecution of those responsible for the 2010 Times Square bombing attempt, and he oversaw the historic settlement with the financial industry following the 2008 financial crisis. Holder also worked to combat discrimination, advocating for LGBT rights and addressing issues related to immigration reform. Post-Obama administration, Holder returned to private practice but continues to engage in public service, speaking on various social and political issues. His life and career reflect a commitment to justice, fairness, and the rule of law, making him one of the most influential figures in modern American politics.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"We still need laws on the books and enforcement actions that can be taken to ensure that we continue to progress."

The quote by Eric Holder highlights the importance of legal frameworks and their consistent enforcement for societal advancement. It suggests that while progress may be made, it's essential to maintain laws as a foundation for continued growth and improvement in society. This perspective underscores the role of law and order in shaping a progressive and just society.

"Justice is not a static ideal; it is an evolving concept, one that must adjust to the changing realities of our society."

The quote by Eric Holder emphasizes that justice, rather than being a fixed or unchanging principle, should adapt and grow with societal evolution. This implies that as societies develop and progress, the definition and application of justice must reflect these changes to remain relevant and fair. This perspective encourages an ongoing, dynamic approach to justice, ensuring it remains effective in addressing new challenges and preserving the rights of all members of a society.

"Every decision that I make as attorney general will be guided by the principles of fairness and justice."

This quote by Eric Holder emphasizes his commitment to making decisions in his role as Attorney General based on two fundamental values: fairness and justice. He intends to uphold these principles in every decision he makes, ensuring that they are applied consistently and equitably, regardless of the parties involved or the circumstances at hand. His focus is on creating a legal system that treats everyone fairly while striving for a just outcome, thereby maintaining trust in the integrity of the legal process and the rule of law.

"The arc of the moral universe may bend towards justice, but it doesn't bend on its own."

The quote suggests that progress toward a just world is inevitable, but it doesn't happen spontaneously; instead, it requires active participation from individuals and societies. In other words, the journey towards justice demands consistent effort, perseverance, and proactive steps to bring about change, rather than relying solely on natural or automatic processes.

"I believe we have a responsibility to leave this country better than we found it, not just for our children, but for all children."

This quote emphasizes the importance of intergenerational responsibility and social stewardship. It suggests that every individual should strive to make a positive impact on society and ensure its progression, not solely for their own children, but for all future generations. The sentiment is that we are all entrusted with the duty to enhance our shared world, passing on a better, more prosperous, and equitable society to those who will inherit it from us.

Displays of force in response to mostly peaceful demonstrations can be counterproductive.

- Eric Holder

Mostly, Demonstrations, Counterproductive

While he was in the service, in the South and in Oklahoma, he was refused service at a couple of places where he was in uniform, and was told that African Americans, blacks, Negros, were not served. And in spite of that, I've never known a man who loved this country more than my father did.

- Eric Holder

Country, Couple, South, Spite

One of the things I learned is that you've got to deal with the underlying social problems if you want to have an impact on crime - that it's not a coincidence that you see the greatest amount of violent crime where you see the greatest amount of social dysfunction.

- Eric Holder

Deal, Violent, Amount, Impact

In January 2013, I told the people in the Justice Department after the re-election that I wanted to focus on reforming the federal criminal justice system. I made an announcement in August of that year in San Francisco, when we rolled out the Smart on Crime initiative.

- Eric Holder

Focus, Year, Francisco, August

Enforcement priorities and arrest patterns must not lead to disparate treatment under the law, even if such treatment is unintended. And police forces should reflect the diversity of the communities they serve.

- Eric Holder

Law, Patterns, Treatment, Arrest

The inability to pass reasonable gun safety laws after the Newtown massacre is something that weighs heavily on my mind.

- Eric Holder

Mind, Gun, Inability, Massacre

I sit here as the first African-American attorney general, serving the first African-American President of the United States. And that has to show that we have made a great deal of progress. But there's still more we have to travel along this road so we get to the place that is consistent with our founding ideals.

- Eric Holder

Here, Deal, United, African-American

I think that people, despite my law enforcement background, view me as taking these consistently progressive stands, and I think that, philosophically, there is a desire to get at that person. But I think the stands I have taken are totally consistent with a person who is looking at things realistically, factually.

- Eric Holder

View, I Think, Stands, Progressive

Michael Brown's tragic death has revealed a deep distrust between some in the Ferguson community and its police force. It also developed a need to develop and widely disseminate law enforcement best practices for responding to public demonstrations.

- Eric Holder

Death, Deep, Some, Disseminate

I'm a 21st-century guy, secure in who I am.

- Eric Holder

I Am, Guy, Secure, 21st-Century

I'd like to continue being involved with issues that animated my time as attorney general - criminal-justice reform and civil rights especially. I don't just want to give speeches; I'd like to involve myself in this work in a systematic way.

- Eric Holder

Continue, Issues, General, Animated

Kids who I grew up with, who I played ball with, basketball, baseball, and went to parties with - for whatever reason - they ended up in a fundamentally different place than I did. I'm the attorney general of the United States and they are ex-felons.

- Eric Holder

Reason, United, States, Different Place

One cannot understate the importance of eliminating Bin Laden. He was a symbolic head of the organisation and, as we now know, an operational head of the organisation.

- Eric Holder

Importance, Symbolic, Bin, Organisation

Those who peacefully gather to express sympathy for the family of Michael Brown must have their rights respected at all times. And journalists must not be harassed or prevented from covering a story that needs to be told.

- Eric Holder

Express, Needs, Covering, Harassed

Guantanamo is a chief recruiting tool for al-Qaida. It has put a wedge between the United States and at least some of its allies.

- Eric Holder

Some, United, United States, Recruiting

I am not a proponent of the death penalty, but I will enforce the law as this Congress gives it to us.

- Eric Holder

Death, Law, Death Penalty, Proponent

Saturdays and Sundays, America in the year 2009 does not in some ways differ significantly from the country that existed almost 50 years ago. This is truly sad.

- Eric Holder

Country, Year, Some, Saturdays

I urge the citizens of Ferguson who have been peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights to join with law enforcement in condemning the actions of looters, vandals and others seeking to inflame tensions and sow discord.

- Eric Holder

Been, Amendment, Ferguson, Condemning

Smart on Crime says if you commit violent crimes, you should go to jail, and go to jail for extended periods of time. For people who are engaged in non-violent crimes - any crimes, for that matter - we are looking for sentences that are proportionate to the conduct that you engaged in.

- Eric Holder

Engaged, Violent, Sentences, Non-Violent

Ferguson and St. Louis County are not the first places that we have become engaged to ensure fair and equitable policing, and they will not be the last. The Department of Justice will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that the Constitution has meaning for all communities.

- Eric Holder

Engaged, Policing, County, Tirelessly

I don't even talk about whether or not racial profiling is legal. I just don't think racial profiling is a particularly good law enforcement tool.

- Eric Holder

Law, Think, Particularly, Profiling

I was raised - professionally - in the Public Integrity Section. I started in 1976, stayed there for 12 years. It was formed after Watergate by then-head of the Criminal Division Dick Thornburgh, who ultimately became Attorney General.

- Eric Holder

Years, Became, Section, Attorney

There are a whole variety of reasons I want to be attorney general, a whole variety of things that I do as attorney general that go beyond national security.

- Eric Holder

Want, Go, Reasons, Attorney

I'm attorney general of the United States. I will not stand for - I will not allow people to take away that which people gave their lives to give, and that is the ability for the American people to vote.

- Eric Holder

United States, Allow, Which, Attorney

If you want to call me an activist attorney general, I will proudly accept that label.

- Eric Holder

Want, Will, Activist, Attorney

Any attorney general who is not an activist is not doing his or her job.

- Eric Holder

Doing, General, Activist, Attorney

The responsibility of the attorney general is to change things and bring us closer to the ideals expressed in our founding documents.

- Eric Holder

Change, Documents, Ideals, Attorney

Although the attorney general is a part of the president's team, you're really separate and apart. You have a special responsibility as the nation's chief law enforcement officer. There has to be a distance that you keep - between this department and the White House.

- Eric Holder

Distance, Nation, Separate, Attorney

If I were attorney general in Kansas in 1953, I would not have defended a Kansas statute that put in place separate-but-equal facilities.

- Eric Holder

Kansas, Defended, Put, Attorney

I am the attorney general of the United States, but I am also a black man.

- Eric Holder

I Am, General, United States, Attorney

On a personal level, I've seen a lot in my time as attorney general, but few things have affected me as greatly as my visit to Ferguson. I had the chance to meet with the family of Michael Brown. I spoke to them not just as attorney general but as a father of a teenage son myself.

- Eric Holder

Father, Spoke, Ferguson, Attorney

I think there are too many people in jail for too long and for not necessarily good reasons.

- Eric Holder

Think, I Think, Reasons, Too Many People

I still think that we have a hesitance to talk about things racial. And I think we do it at our detriment. We go from incident to incident, and we have spikes in which race becomes something that we talk about, as opposed to talking about race in those less contentious times when I think we might make more progress.

- Eric Holder

I Think, About, Detriment, Incident

In a lot of ways, civil rights division is the conscience of the Justice Department. You can almost measure what kind of Justice Department you have by what kind of civil rights division that you have.

- Eric Holder

Kind, Conscience, Almost, Department

Operation Fast and Furious was flawed in concept and flawed in execution. The tactics used in this operation violate Department of Justice policy and should never have been used.

- Eric Holder

Execution, Been, Concept, Department

I grew up in the Justice Department. I served 12 years as a line lawyer in the public integrity section. This department under me will not have any kind of political interference. I will not allow political interference in the Justice Department. Those who might attempt to do that will be rebuffed.

- Eric Holder

Political, Line, Allow, Justice Department

This is going to be a very transparent Justice Department. But I'm not gonna sacrifice the safety of the American people or our ability to protect the American homeland.

- Eric Holder

Going, Very, Homeland, Justice Department

I'm not going to let people who work in the United States Department of Justice have their characters be assailed without any basis.

- Eric Holder

United, Going, United States, Department

I have loved the Department of Justice ever since, as a young boy, I watched Robert Kennedy prove during the Civil Rights Movement how the department can - and must - always be a force for that which is right.

- Eric Holder

Young, Prove, Robert Kennedy, Department

The full resources of the Department of Justice have been committed to the investigation into Michael Brown's death.

- Eric Holder

Committed, Been, Michael, Department

We are not programmed to bury our kids.

- Eric Holder

Bury, Our, Kids, Programmed

I look forward to working with the NRA to come up with ways in which we can use common sense approaches to reduce the level of violence that we see - in our streets, and make the American people as safe as they possibly can be.

- Eric Holder

American, Streets, Use, Possibly

When it comes to police officers, I have concerns about the training that they receive. This whole notion of implicit bias, looking at people and having stereotypical reactions to them on the basis of their ethnicity.

- Eric Holder

Police Officers, Receive, Reactions

Though race-related issues continue to occupy a significant portion of our political discussion, and though there remain many unresolved racial issues in this nation, we, average Americans, simply do not talk enough with each other about things racial.

- Eric Holder

Average, Other, Occupy, Unresolved

I understand the Second Amendment. I respect the Second Amendment. I think we need to use common sense tools to keep the American people safe, to keep our streets safe.

- Eric Holder

Think, Amendment, I Think, Common Sense

Communities of color don't understand what it means to be a police officer, the fear that police officers have in just being on the streets.

- Eric Holder

Police Officers, Means, Communities

History simmers beneath the surface in more communities than just Ferguson.

- Eric Holder

Surface, More, Beneath, Communities

The vast majority of law enforcement officers conduct themselves in really honorable, appropriate ways.

- Eric Holder

Law, Appropriate, Honorable

I think one of the things that I don't think people focus on is that there are some red states that have done some really innovative things when it comes to criminal justice reform, including on rehabilitation, reentry efforts. I think one of the things that we have seen in that regard is that you save money.

- Eric Holder

Some, I Think, Save, Criminal

It is the thing that keeps me up at night - the notion that you have individuals in the United States who are looking at computer screens and who are becoming radicalized.

- Eric Holder

Becoming, United States, Screens

Studies show that if people think that they are treated fairly by the police, that matters almost more than what the result is. If you get stopped for a traffic stop and feel that you are treated courteously and fairly, you are much more likely to accept the fact that you got a speeding ticket.

- Eric Holder

Fact, Speeding, Almost, Traffic

The American people can be - and deserve to be - assured that actions taken in their defense are consistent with their values and their laws.

- Eric Holder

Values, Deserve, Laws, Assured

Whether it is an attempt to bomb the New York City subway system, an attempt to bring down an airplane over Detroit, an attempt to set off a bomb in Times Square... I think that gives us a sense of the breadth of the challenges that we face, and the kinds of things that our enemy is trying to do.

- Eric Holder

City, I Think, Breadth, Detroit

You constantly hear about voter fraud... but you don't see huge amounts of vote fraud out there.

- Eric Holder

Out, About, Constantly, Vote

I'm a hard headed lawyer.

- Eric Holder

Hard, Headed, Lawyer

The reality is that we will be reading Miranda rights to the corpse of Osama bin Laden. He will never appear in an American courtroom. That's the reality. He will be killed by us, or he will be killed by his own people so he's not captured by us. We know that.

- Eric Holder

Own, Will, Bin, Courtroom

Due process and judicial process are not one and the same, particularly when it comes to national security.

- Eric Holder

Process, Security, Judicial, National Security

Well, I think the American people have to understand that the Mexican government is committed, in a very substantial way, to eradicating the effect of the impact of the cartels on Mexico. We have - what are called vetted units down there. Units that have been vetted by our law enforcement people there, the people with whom we deal - primarily.

- Eric Holder

Deal, Been, Very, Substantial

Any decision to use lethal force against a United States citizen - even one intent on murdering Americans and who has become an operational leader of al-Qaida in a foreign land - is among the gravest that government leaders can face.

- Eric Holder

Leader, United, Use, Intent

I actually think that the dotting of the i's and the crossing of the t's is what separates the United States, the United Kingdom, our allies, from those who we are fighting.

- Eric Holder

Think, United, United States, Separates

As the brother of a retired law enforcement officer, I know firsthand that our men and women in uniform perform their duties in the face of tremendous threats and significant personal risk. They put their lives on the line every day, and they often have to make split-second decisions.

- Eric Holder

Every Day, Line, Officer, Decisions

The Constitution guarantees due process, not judicial process.

- Eric Holder

Process, Judicial, Due, Guarantees

It's a sad indication of where Washington has come, where policy differences almost necessarily become questions of integrity. I came to Washington in the late '70s, and people had the ability in the past to have intense policy differences but didn't feel the need to question the other person's character.

- Eric Holder

Differences, Other, Almost, Intense

I don't have any intention of resigning.

- Eric Holder

Resigning, Any, Intention

It pains me whenever there's the death of a law enforcement official.

- Eric Holder

Death, Law, Whenever, Enforcement

I'm a prosecutor first and foremost, and as a judge, I put people in jail for extended periods of time when that was appropriate.

- Eric Holder

Jail, Appropriate, Foremost, Prosecutor

The threat has changed from simply worrying about foreigners coming here, to worrying about people in the United States, American citizens - raised here, born here, and who for whatever reason, have decided that they are going to become radicalized and take up arms against the nation in which they were born.

- Eric Holder

Reason, Here, Foreigners, Citizens

People feel uncomfortable talking about racial issues out of fear that if they express things, they will be characterized in a way that's not fair. I think that there is still a need for a dialogue about things racial that we've not engaged in.

- Eric Holder

I Think, Engaged, About, Not Fair

Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards.

- Eric Holder

Ethnic, Always, Been, Essentially

You keep your eyes on the prize, you try to do what's right, and eventually, you'll reach your goal.

- Eric Holder

Goal, Reach, Keep, Eyes

I think that what I'm doing is right. And election-year politics, which intensifies everything, is not going to drive me off that course.

- Eric Holder

Politics, Think, Which, Drive

If you're searching for quotes on a different topic, feel free to browse our Topics page or explore a diverse collection of quotes from various Authors to find inspiration.